Prophet Muhammad was the “seal of the prophets” (khatim al-anbiya) and could therefore, not be succeeded by another prophet (nabi). However, a successor was needed to assume his functions as leader of the Muslim community, upon his death. The Shia maintain that the Prophet’s family (ahl al-bayt) alone could interpret and explain the teachings of Islam as “the Islamic message contained inner truths that could not be understood directly through human reason.”* It is the fundamental belief of the Shia communities that the Prophet had designated his cousin and son-in-law Ali as his successor, a designation instituted through divine command and revealed at Ghadir Khumm.
Literally ‘pond of Khumm’ in Arabic, it is the name of a marsh located in Khumm, an area between Mecca and Medina. It is the location where Prophet Muhammad, while returning to Medina from his farewell pilgrimage to Mecca in the year 632, stopped to deliver a sermon during which he uttered the famous words declaring Imam ‘Ali as the mawla (lit. patron, lord, master) of the believers. These words are preserved in hadith collections as: ‘He whose mawla I am, ‘Ali is his mawla.’**
This event, which falls on 18th of Dhu’l Hijja in the Muslim lunar calendar, is commemorated by all Shi‘a Muslims as Eid al-Ghadir.
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“Soon after the founder of Islam, Prophet Mohammed died, issue concerning the religious and secular leadership of the Muslim community arose. By and large, the Sunni Muslims maintained that after Prophet Mohammed’s death each Muslim was left to interpret and practice his faith according to his understanding although every mosque has its own Imam to lead the prayers. The Shia Muslims, on the other hand, believe that the successor to the leadership of the Muslim community both in spiritual and temporal matters was the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, Ali, and that this leadership was to continue thereafter by heredity through Ali in the Prophet’s family….
The nature of the religious office which I hold neither requires nor is expected by the members of my community, to be an institution whose existence is restricted to spiritual leadership. On the contrary, history and the correct interpretation of the Imamat require that the Imam, while caring first of all for the spiritual well-being of his people, should also be continuously concerned with their safety and their material progress.”
His Highness the Aga Khan’s Speech to the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, Zurich, Switzerland – January 14, 1976
Extracts Published in Hikmat, January 1984, Volume II, No 3
“Like the Protestants and Catholics in Christianity, Islam is divided into two main branches, the Sunni (who are by far the most numerous) and the Shia. Soon after the Founder of Islam, Prophet Muhammad, died, issues concerning the leadership of the Muslim peoples arose. The Shia Muslims, of whom the Ismailis are a part, believe that the successor to the leadership, of the Imamat, was the Prophet’s nephew and son-in-law Ali and that it would continue by heredity through Ali in the Prophet’s family.”
His Highness the Aga Khan’s Address at a Luncheon hosted by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, United Kingdom
September 4, 1979
“I was born into a Muslim family, linked by heredity to the Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him and his family). My education blended Islamic and Western traditions, and I was studying at Harvard some 50 years ago ….when I became the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims.
The Ismaili Imamat is a supra-national entity, representing the succession of Imams since the time of the Prophet. But let me clarify something more about the history of that role, in both the Sunni and Shia interpretations of the Muslim faith. The Sunni position is that the Prophet nominated no successor, and that spiritual-moral authority belongs to those who are learned in matters of religious law. As a result, there are many Sunni imams in a given time and place. But others believed that the Prophet had designated his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, as his successor. From that early division, a host of further distinctions grew up — but the question of rightful leadership remains central. In time, the Shia were also sub-divided over this question, so that today the Ismailis are the only Shia community who, throughout history, have been led by a living, hereditary Imam in direct descent from the Prophet.”
His Highness the Aga Khan’s address to both Houses of the Parliament of Canada in the House of Commons Chamber, Ottawa, February 27, 2014
Speech at Press Centre, AKDN
Sources:
*Farhad Daftary, A Short History of the Ismailis, Edinburgh University Press, 1998
**Reprinted from Glossary, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
Compiled by Nimira Dewji
Ismailimail 